Batavia voters reject borrowing for school improvements

Batavia District 101 athletic fields, other projects, will have to wait

Batavia voters refused Tuesday to give school officials permission to borrow $15 million to pay for projects that include synthetic turf athletic fields, windows and parking lots, early vote totals show.

"We are glad the public cared enough about the District to show up and vote, and we are glad the Board cared enough to ask the question," said district Superintendent Lisa Hichens in an emailed statement. "Board Members put the alternate bond question on the ballot specifically to get direction from the public."

With all 28 precincts reporting, 73.5 percent of voters rejected the request, according to unofficial totals from the Kane County Clerk and Aurora Election Commission offices. The loan would have been repaid over 20 years with $9 million in interest.

Advocates said the loan wouldn't affect taxpayers or change the district's tax rate, as it already set aside plenty of money for projects in its yearly budget. About $1.5 million is budgeted for capital projects each year and the district planned to take $1.2 million of that during the next 20 years to pay off the debt.

This would have left $300,000 annually for any extra improvements over the next two decades.

Without the loan, it will take years before the district can save enough money for the projects, said Batavia Public School District 101 officials.

About $7.5 million of the borrowed money would have gone toward refurbishing Batavia High School's baseball and softball fields and installing the two synthetic turf fields.

Batavia High School athletic director Dave Andrews said the high school's current campus can't accommodate its athletic teams. The football team practices on the varsity baseball field, for instance, which leads to the field's overuse and increasingly rough terrain.

About 300 students, including the boys and girls soccer teams and the marching band, are sent to off-campus sites such as Storm Elementary School, Engstrom Family Park and Batavia Covenant Church, he said.

The borrowed money would have allowed for these students to stay on the high school's campus by utilizing the new synthetic turf fields.

The district plans to move forward with the projects by funding them through the annual budgeted $1.5 million in different phases over the next several years, Hichens said.

At H.C. Storm Elementary School Tuesday afternoon, lines were out the door and rosy-cheeked voters braved cold temperatures by bringing their scarves to their faces or jogging in place. When the school day ended, several parents took their children by the hand and led them to the polling station where they read voting rules aloud and let them peek into the voting booths. Kids skipped out brandishing 'I voted' stickers on their jackets, hats and – in one instance – their forehead.

Polls officially opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014, for Illinois voters to settle a close, contentious race for governor and decide an unusually large number of ballot questions as well as races for the U.S. Senate and House, the General Assembly and county board.

Voters at the polls were most hesitant about the referendum due to text suggesting the district could raise taxes "without limitation" to pay off the debt. Some residents said they recalled times when the school district promised not to increase taxes to pay off bonds, but still did.

John and Bonnie Dibling walked out of the polls feeling confident the referendum wouldn't pass and said they were both against it.

"Our taxes are so high already, one of the highest I'm aware of," Bonnie Dibling said. "It indicates to me they aren't managing their money correctly. In other words, they're running their business badly."

She added she was also against spending millions toward sports improvements, but not putting that same amount of money toward areas like arts or sciences.

John Dibling's vote came down to the question of taxes.

"I don't think they need to raise taxes. I think they need to get their act together," he said.

For resident Audre Pack, the referendum came down to the millions of dollars being spent on something other than education. As a senior citizen, she said a good chunk of her taxes go to the school district and she'd rather see the district putting their money toward something better for the community. She said she feels the district's spending lately has "been out of line."

"Would I have voted 'yes' if the money was going toward something else? Well, that's the biggest question," she said.